Transcript

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>> US prosecutors are charging nine Iranians and an Iranian company with carrying out a massive series of global cyber attacks, in what they say is one of the largest state-sponsored hacking sprees they've prosecuted. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters Friday those accused hacked in to hundreds of US and international universities, dozens of companies, and parts of the US government.

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>> This indictment alleges that the defendants worked on behalf of the Iranian government, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The defendant stole research that cost those universities approximately $3.4 billion. That stolen information was used by the revolutionary guard or sold for profit in Iran.>> The US Department of the Treasury announced it was imposing sanctions on those accused and on a company called the Magna Institute prosecutors say helps Iranian research organizations steal information.

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The cyber attacks that began in 2013 stole terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from universities around the globe according to a DOJ statement.